Though the going is still tough for 12-year-old Ebony Vandenbogaerde, her mom said she is making good progress in her rehabilitation in Toronto.
Ebony, the Chatham youth who underwent 10 hours of surgery to remove a tumour in her spine, was left a paraplegic in April of this year. After a long stay at the hospital in London, she transferred to the Holland Bloorview Rehabilitation Hospital in Toronto, according to her mom, Maria, where she is learning to live with her new reality in a wheelchair.
Ebony had her first visit home this past weekend, and Maria said it was very busy with visits from an extensive extended family, and learning how to do things without help from hospital staff.
Maria said she is thrilled with how great the staff are in Toronto, and the care they are giving to Ebony, with recreation activities for her and kids her own age, upbeat music and movie nights to make her rehab work fun and beneficial.
“They are great with her and the food is great. They put it out buffet style for Ebony and the kids in this section,” Maria said. “They even got her into the therapy pool where she was able to stand for the first time. I was worried she was going to slip under the water, but they know what they are doing.”
Maria said Ebony still has her good and bad days while she adjusts, but said the staff were very pleased with how much their young patient could already do for herself.
“I was able to bring Ebony home for the first time and they are teaching her to use a slide board to get in and out of vehicles,” Maria reported. “It was an exhausting weekend but a good one with family all around to help and visit with Ebony.”
Until Ebony can lift herself in and out of a vehicle, the girl’s mom said she is forced to rent a wheel-chair accessible vehicle to get her back and forth to Chatham, at a cost of at least $250 each time.
She is also looking at getting a lift to help her move Ebony from her bed to her chair or to use bath facilities. It is still a big adjustment each day for the whole family, but Maria said she is getting help from the hospital and social services to make sure she has the supports she needs.
Several fundraisers and donors have also stepped up, including a $1,000 donation from the Mocha Cruisers Shrine Unit of Chatham-Kent, who said the funds can be used for equipment needed for Ebony.
Also helping out, with a $1,000 donation Monday morning while Ebony was home, was Community Living Chatham-Kent. Manager of Community Relations Angela Corso and Supervisor of Volunteers and Events Tammy Chouinard visited Ebony and Maria, bringing a big cheque from the proceeds of their annual Food Crawl.
“The Food Crawl was held July 19 and was an opportunity for people to participate in a really fun event, loading up four school buses, about 190 people, and you travel around Chatham to five different restaurants,” Corso said. “It’s a great night where people can socialize and just enjoy the summer and Chatham and raise funds for a great community agency. Every year we like to give back to the community because they give so much to us.”
Corso said staff noticed the article in The Chatham Voice about Ebony and that she was in need of different resources.
“Travelling back and forth to Toronto was difficult for her and we wanted to give back, so utilizing $1,000 of the proceeds from the annual Food Crawl is hopefully going to help her out a little bit for her next journey,” Corso added.
Maria said the timeline for Ebony coming home is at the end of October and she is worried about getting everything in place in time for her homecoming.
Anyone wanting to help the family can make donations in Maria’s name at the Merritt Avenue branch of the Heritage Savings and Credit Union, or the GoFundMe page in Ebony’s name online. In particular, Maria said they are looking for wheelchair accessible housing with at least two bedrooms on the main floor or someone who might be willing to renovate an existing space to be wheelchair accessible.
